Overview

Matson Fruit Company is a family owned fruit production company that has been in operation over 100 years. The company consists of two operations. One is geared towards the production of high quality tree fruits. The second operation is a tree fruit packaging and shipping facility which packages both tree fruits from company owned orchards and independent grower orchards.

Matson Fruit orchards farms tree fruit in areas across Washington State. Matson Fruit warehouse packs thousands of boxes of apples and pears at their packaging facility in Selah, Washington. Matson Fruit Company is a renowned grower and distributor of an assortment of apples, pears and cherries with over 100 years of experience caring for numerous orchards.

Challenges

During the fruit growing cycle, apple trees are sprayed with water using “overhead cooling” systems to aid the apples in cooling through evaporation, including the leaves and apples. This reduce sunburn on apples, as well as keep the temperature in the orchard at ideal growing levels. This water when it dries will scale up on the apple, causing a high culling rate. Post-harvest, the apples are acid washed to remove the limescale buildup. This is a costly recurring annual expense. ScaleBlaster conditioned water is an environmentally safe non-chemical alternative to using chemicals to achieve the same, if not better results.

Solution

In 2017, several industrial ScaleBlaster models, ranging from SB-2000 through SB-3600 were installed on their organic apple lots.

Outcome

Amazing results. The harvests have had a dramatically lower culling rate than previous harvests before ScaleBlaster. Also, during the packaging process, acid washing demand has seen a 90% decrease, saving time and money!

Future

Due to the success of ScaleBlaster on the organic lots, Matson Fruit is currently exploring adding more units to the rest of the lots as budgeting allows in the near future.

Overview

The Comfort Suites of Brandon is a deluxe, all-suite hotel and is part of the Choice Hotels International chain.

Challenges

The hotel had a costly water softener that was constantly malfunctioning and breaking down. It even ruptured at one point – in the power room and flooded the boiler & hot water system with salt water, which effectively closed them down. Thousands of dollars were spent replacing very expensive equipment as a result of the softener. The hotel also experienced limescale buildup in the shower heads and aerators in addition.

Solution

Several other hotels in the area already had installed ScaleBlaster, so the decision was made to remove the softener before it could do any more damage. Commercial ScaleBlaster’s were installed on the incoming waterline of the entire building and on an intake waterline to the laundry room and dietary.

Installed

July of 2004

Outcome

Not only has the sodium corrosion in the boiler/hot water equipment stopped, the hotel has experienced a major reduction in scale buildup in the shower heads and aerators. The system also helped to clear the salt out of the lines along the boiler & hot water system. Without any maintenance and having to add salt, the extra room originally needed for the softener and its brine tank has given them extra storage for supplies.

Overview

Stone Land Farms is a large diversified family farming company formed in 1948. They employ 260 people and specialize in cotton.

Challenges

Due to water restrictions, farmers are forced to use drip irrigation which scale up all the time with calcium deposits, requiring constant cleaning & replacement. Farmers are also looking for ways to yield their crops more efficiently because plants can’t grow as fast with the restricted water usage.

Solution

One SB-4000 was installed at the pump station on an 18” pipeline which supplies hundreds of acres with water.

Installed

February 4, 2013

Outcome

Phenomenal results. The scaling issues in thousands of drip dispensers immediately stopped. The big story is that the less surface tension of the water allows the plants to grow much faster due to deeper water saturation. The roots go deeper into the soil which increases crop production dramatically. The amount of savings from the increased production generated by using ScaleBlaster is substantial.

Overview

Crowne Plaza is a chain of full service, upscale hotels catering to business travelers and to the meetings & convention market. The Crowne Plaza Tampa East is a 269-room luxury hotel with over 30,000 square feet of conference rooms, located next to the state fairgrounds and the Hard Rock Casino Resort, the 6th largest casino in the world. It was a primary designation site of events associated with the Republican National Convention in 2012.

Challenges

The hotel’s entire piping system was so clogged up with limescale formation that they were unable to get any hot water to the upper floors. They actually had to run water in the vacant rooms overnight just to get hot water to the upper floors – costing them thousands of dollars in wasted water monthly. On top of that, their boilers had to be fired up to 130 degrees just to obtain a reading of 100, contributing to further wasted energy costs.

Solution

On December 6th, 2011 multiple ScaleBlasters (Commercial model SB-350’s and SB-450’s) were installed on the main water line to the building – before and after the boilers, and on locations half way up the building on their piping system. Additional units were installed in the laundry room and on the steamer in the kitchen.

Results

Within 3-4 weeks, hotel guests on the top floors and even the new general manager staying at the hotel, starting complaining the water was too hot! This was because the ScaleBlaster had cleaned the hot water lines out of scale deposits and the water pressure was fully restored to the rooms on the upper levels of the hotel. In addition, the scale was removed from the boilers allowing them to reduce the temperature setting to 100 degrees.

No longer did the crew have to turn on the water faucets overnight. But more importantly, the hotel solved the problem of having to replace the hotels entire plumbing system, something that would potentially cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. ScaleBlaster not only cleaned out their entire piping system, but will keep them scale-free for a long time – without chemicals, salt or any maintenance.

As an added bonus, the additional units installed gave the hotel even more benefits. The laundry, especially the towels, began coming out with a softer feel on them while the lint from the massive dryers had virtually vanished, keeping the fire marshal and laundry crew happy.

Savings

The total savings on energy and water is in the tens of thousands of dollars, and the savings from re-piping their entire plumbing system would likely have run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars more. Note: This hotel is now called the Sheraton and the equipment has remained in the building. It continues to perform as stated.

Overview

Six Flags Entertainment is the world’s largest amusement-park based corporation (based on properties). Six Flags Fiesta Texas is a 224-acre theme/water park located in San Antonio, Texas.

Challenges

The new Tornado ride was experiencing unsightly limescale deposit formation inside the “funnel” where the water was flowing. This was greatly restricting the water flow rate thus affecting the overall enjoyment of the ride. Considerable labor costs, chemicals and downtime were involved to keep the ride scale-free.

Solution

An old SB-XX model was installed on the 3” water line going to the ride which included an 18,000 gallon pool.

Installed

August 8, 2011

Outcome

The limescale has stopped forming where the water flows, allowing the water park ride to enjoy normal flow rates without all the labor, chemicals and downtime.

Overview

Wet ‘n’ Wild are globally known water parks with its wide assortment of swimming pools and water slides. The Wet ‘n’ Wild parks in Las Vegas and Hawaii draw hundreds of thousands of guests each and every year.

Challenges

Located in very hard water areas, the water slides in both the Hawaii and Las Vegas locations were suffering from severe limescale buildup on the slides. The appearance and performance of the slides were hindered by the rock hard white substances where the water flows. Riders were slowed down by the scale buildup on the fiberglass slides. The water flow coming out of small ¼” tubing was getting restricted. The rides had to be shut down completely and wet-sanded and buffed to remove the limescale.

Solution

Multiple SB-450s and SB-650s have been installed on the two parks, covering virtually all their slides in the parks.

Installed

Hawaii units were installed, August 8, 2013 and the Las Vegas units were installed on June 15, 2014 and additional ones on August 20, 2014.

Outcome

The limescale issues have totally stopped. The savings in labor, chemicals and reduced downtime is substantial.

Overview

The City of Henderson is the second largest city in Nevada and is part of the Las Vegas metropolitan area. In 1999, the city recognized the need for a satellite facility to support the areas increasing wastewater treatment and reclaimed water distribution demands and a new facility was built.

Challenges

In the summer of 2002, the operations staff noticed a decrease in the sodium bisulfite feed rate. A mixture of sulfur and calcium were clogging up the lines. Looking at different options other than using acids to clean out the 200 feet of underground piping system, the operators gave ScaleBlaster a try. The water hardness level in Henderson is extremely high.

Solution

One SB-400 was installed on the incoming feed line.

Installed

December 17, 2002

Outcome

As documented in a case study, the scale formation completely dissolved back into the water over a period of a few weeks. The operators were able to avoid the tedious job of acid cleaning the two hundred feet of pipe of limescale on a regular basis.

Overview

Auvil Fruit Company is a very large fruit producer of apples and cherries located in Orondo, Washington. The company was formed in 1928 and now has more than 1500 acres supplying top quality fruit using their own innovative farming practices. The label of “Gee Whiz” is produced by Auvil and found on fruit nationally.

Challenges

Hard water mineral deposits would form on the fruit while going through the handling process (water wash) and also while the fruit was being water flumed from receiving stations to processing lines. Then they would need expensive chemicals (acids) to help remove the mineral deposits during the packing process. This was a time consuming and costly process without the most efficient results.

Solution

Nine large SB-2000 industrial units were installed in conjunction with the overhead cooling systems.

Installed

January 2011

Outcome

After installation of ScaleBlaster the company was able to immediately stop using expensive acid chemicals to remove the limescale deposits from the fruit. This has saved the company more than $200,000 a year in chemicals alone, not to mention the labor and maintenance involved. Fewer mineral deposits on the fruit were also noted.

Overview

In one of the biggest public works projects by the city of Las Vegas, a state-of-the-art $37 million Durango Hills Water Research Center was constructed. It collects municipal sewer wastewater and treats it to standards that make it safe for irrigation to many area golf courses and parks.

Challenges

From the start, the ultraviolet disinfection system failed expectations and made it necessary to rely on sodium hypochlorite injection to ensure that output of the recycled water distribution system met safety standards. This in turn, caused rapid scale fouling of the two operating sodium hypochlorite disinfection systems. From the injectors to the contact basins, these systems include extensive networks of pipeline as well as valves, pumps, etc. Descaling meant 8 hours per week of acid washes and replacing sections of blocked pipelines.

Solution

One SB-200 was installed on the incoming pipeline.

Installed

June 2003

Outcome

Within in one month of operation, the chemical feed line was completely scale-free and flow rates were optimal throughout the disinfection system. A second SB-200 was installed in April 2004.

Overview

The American Bottoms Wastewater Treatment Facility is a very large facility located in Sauget, Illinois. They can treat an average of 26-52 million gallons of wastewater a day of municipal and industrial water.

Challenges

Heavy limescale formation on structures & equipment (from quicklime that is added to neutralize the water) were forming 8” – 10” thick. There were huge expenses from cleaning & disposal of the limescale on a weekly basis plus all of the downtime.

Solution

The SB-4000, SB-3600 and SB-2800 were installed on the two main water pipes (36” pipe) transferring the incoming wastewater to the process. One SB-2000 was installed on the lime recirculation line to treat the lime slurry.

Installed

February 23, 2012

Outcome

Within the first month, scale formation slowed down dramatically, thus reducing the cleaning of the structures to a fraction of the time. The scale formation was much softer also. As an added bonus, they no longer needed to add polymers to the water saving more than $1,000 a month. The savings on cleaning, equipment repair, replacement, energy, water usage, manpower, downtime and use of a polymer is estimated at more than $100,000 a year.